Took the WSM for a spin on Sunday. Couldn't turn down the beautiful weather we had out here. Figured I'd smoke a Pork Shoulder, hadn't done that in a while - besides I thought it would be a good acid test.

All in all I'd have to say that I am impressed with it's ability to hold temps, easy firebox access and large cooking area. Only downside was my fault (should have started with more fuel and completely filled the water pan) but next time I won't make the same mistake. Still going through the learning curve of a new toy.

I'll post a complete set of pics to this later, but I took a 7 pound butt, slathered it with a mustard slather I came up with that I've been using for a few years and hit it with Dizzy Dust. I used some alder chunks I had left over for smoke. To light the fuel, I used a "Minion" method, but fashioned a tube from heavy duty aluminum foil (so I could get a custom sized burning center instead of a coffee can size) and stacked up a bunch of unlit coals around it. I should have used more unlit coals so I wouldn't have had to futz with it after a couple hours in like I did.

It was a 7 hour cook (about an hour a pound) at a pit temp of 250 (+- a few degrees here and there). I took the butt to 193. Probably could have left it to 195, but it pulled ok. Here's the result when I was done. I'm not 100% happy with it, but I know what I need to change. Experience is the best teacher, right?

Thanks - I made 6 Sandwiches (tossed the pork with a variation on Wayne Monk's Kitchen dip) - already gone. And 2 vacuum packed in the freezer for beans for my big Cinco De Mayo party a week from Saturday.